The Green Party has released the executive summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana.
Barrister Rachel Burt conducted a months-long investigation which had cost $43,000 as of mid-May.
The Greens’ leadership received Burt’s report on June 5, with a caucus meeting tabled for the following day.
In a statement today, Greens’ co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the summary made it clear Tana failed to meet the standards of a member of Parliament.
“Darleen was given multiple opportunities to be upfront about the serious allegations she was facing but chose to obfuscate instead of answering straightforward questions, prompting the need for an independent investigation.
“Now the public can see why Caucus was unanimous in requesting Darleen’s resignation from Parliament.”
Tana resigned before she could be given the boot from the Green Party after the caucus unanimously voted to ask her to resign as an MP.
The now-former Green MP, of Ngāpuhi descent, was suspended in mid-March after claims she was linked to migrant exploitation at her husband’s company.
She was suspended with full pay until her resignation earlier this month.
“We are deeply disappointed that Darleen Tana has not been forthcoming about nor taken accountability for very serious breaches of our kaupapa, nor even acknowledged the impact of her behaviour on others.
“Her staying on as an MP risks undermining the credibility of Parliament, as well as the faith the public has in it as an institution.
“It is in the best interests of everyone that she resigns,” said Chlöe Swarbrick.
What did the report say?
Burt’s report interviewed many people involved with Tana’s family business.
She said it took longer than expected due to multiple factors, including a complainant’s representative providing 500 pages of new and relevant information near the end of the review.
An ex-employee, who quit after two weeks due to employees and suppliers not being paid, had placed a claim with the Employment Relations Authority naming Tana as one of his employers.
The ex-Green MP would resign from being a shareholder and director of the stores before the company’s response to the Authority claim in 2019.
The barrister found that Tana and her partner Christian Hoff-Neilsen were not credible sources of information due to the lack of evidence in hand.
Christian Hoff-Neilsen was said to have “lacked consistency of account” and one account accused Burt of “tampering with the transcript”.
Tana had allegedly lied multiple times in the interviews with the investigator, claiming she had nothing to do with Green Wheels Blenheim.
She retracted her statement when presented with the company’s office data, which proved otherwise.
The ex-Green party member kept telling Burt that she was unaware of certain employees’ grievances although communications within the company implied she was fully aware.
Burt claims Tana was indeed aware that one of her employees had the wrong work visa.
“The visa he had, dating from 25 November 2021, related to being a seasonal fruit picker.
“As the WhatsApp messages show, Darleen requested a copy of the visa on 30 November 2021, and acknowledged receipt of it.
“Darleen was well versed in immigration applications and requirements and so on the evidence I have it appears she would have seen the visa was not suitable for E Cycles work,” Burt wrote in the report.
The role Tana played in some of the employee’s time with the companies were mainly knowing her as someone in charge with pay-roll and back office. She would be paid $20,000 per year for working 30 minutes to four hours a week until March 31, 2022.
Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that 500 new and relevant pages of information were supplied by the Green Party. This has been corrected.